MR John Drinkwater

Abraham Lincoln MR John Drinkwater

In using for purposes of drama a personality of so wide and recent a fame as that of Abraham First, my purpose is that not of the historian but of the dramatist. The historical presentation Lincoln, I feel that one or two observations are due to my readers and critics.of my hero has been faithfully made in many volumes; notably, in England, by Lord Charnwood in a monograph that gives a masterly analysis of Lincoln's career and character and is, it seems to me, a model of what the historian's work should be. To this book I am gratefully indebted for the material of my play. But while I have, I hope, done nothing to traverse history, I have freely telescoped its events, and imposed invention upon its movement, in such ways as I needed to shape the dramatic significance of my subject. I should add that the fictitious Burnet Hook is admitted to the historical company of Lincoln's Cabinet for the purpose of embodying certain forces that were antagonistic to the President.